


High School Falls: Obsession

by athero



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Gen, High School, Human Bill Cipher, Multi, bill is still creepy and likes to make deals, no magic exists in this au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-19
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-04-10 04:41:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4377587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/athero/pseuds/athero
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Mabel and Dipper start school at Gravity Falls Community High School, they meet a variety of new people. But one boy in particular won't seem to leave Dipper alone. Dipper is determined to figure out why this boy is so obsessed with him, and what he is hiding.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic I have a large plot planned out for, so let me know how I'm doing with plot points and if it seems like its progressing too quick! All feedback is greatly appreciated! 
> 
> (ahh, I'm having formatting issues because this is my first time posting on here. Sorry if it looks weird, I'm working on figuring that out)

              Dipper was lost, which was something he wasn’t expecting himself to be. He had no problem navigating the woods around the shack, and this place was definitely not as large as that.

              He looked down at his schedule for the seventh time. Room 208. English. He was currently standing in the middle of the math hall, across from room 313. Putting his hand to his chin, he contemplated which person in the busy hall he should ask for help. There was a girl in pink heals leaning against the door of 313, her blond hair pulled up into a high ponytail. Asking her was out of the question. She looked like a girl Dipper would want to avoid at all costs. There was a taller girl wearing a rough looking flannel shirt a little down the hall, and wow- she was cute. Dipper had a hard time not staring at her long natural red hair. It kept being hit by the light just right, making it seem like it was sparkling. He felt himself being pulled closer to her, his feet moving him as his eyes stayed fix. He kept walking until he was right next to her.

               “Uh, hey dude,” she said to him confused, but smiling.

               It took Dipper a moment to realize he was being talked to. “Oh, heh heh, hey there.”

               There was a moment of silence. Before she awkwardly said, “Do you need something?”

               “Oh, yeah!” dipper said, pulling his schedule out of his pocket for the eighth time this morning. “I’m trying to find room 208, and it’s dumb because I’m really good with maps usually. I explore the woods around my house all time and I make this little map mapping off the location of all these weird things I find. But I can’t seem to figure out the layout of a school.”

               The girl laughed. “Oh wow dude. That’s some tough stuff.”

               “You could say that.”

               She laughed again, punching him lightly on the shoulder. “You’re a funny guy. Okay, so you’re on the third floor right now. 208 is down those stairs the next hall over. Then once you go down, it’s at the very end of the hall on the right. Got it?”

               Dipper nodded a little too hard. “Got it, thanks!”

               “No problem kid. I’m Wendy by the way. Senior.”

               Dipper put out his hand. “Dipper. Sophomore. This is my first day. It’s also my sisters first day. We’re twins.”

               “Oh wow sweet. So if I ever see a girl version of you around, I’ll assume it’s her.” She took his hand a shook it. “Okay Dipper, I’ve got to run. Maybe I’ll see you around.”

               As she turned and walked away Dipper yelled out, “I hope so!”

               ‘I hope so’, really? There was nothing more desperate sounding he could of possibly said. As he mentally beat himself up, he hurried over down the stairs and into his class room as the bell rang. After a short talk with the teacher, he hurried over to his newly assigned seat and slouched into it.

               The teacher started her lecture about what motivated Iago in the book _Othello_. Dipper was half listening. He had read the book last year in English at his old school, and so had already gone over this. To pass the time, he decided to pull out his journal and continue his sketch of the peculiar looking tree across the street from school. At least, that’s what he was planning to do. As he was starting to continue his sketch the person sitting behind him tapped him on the shoulder.

               Dipper turned around to see a lanky boy with his head propped up on the desk by one fist. He had a yellow-blond undercut, with side swept angled bangs that were currently fell in front of his face to cover one eye. He had on a baggy yellow sweater that was almost the same color as his hair and matching yellow high tops on his feet that were sticking out from under the sides of his desk.

               “What’cha drawing there, Pine Tree?” he asked nonchalantly, like they were old friends catching up with each other.

               “Excuse me?” replied dipper, closing his journal and coving the cover of it with his arm, defensively.

               “I asked what you were drawing, kid.”

               From the front of the classroom, Dipper heard the teacher clear her throat. She was undoubtedly looking at the two boys waiting for them to hush up so she could continue her lesson. Dipper muttered a sorry as he turned around in his seat.

               It wasn’t long though before he was tapped again.

               Dipper refused to turn around. He didn’t want to get in trouble on his first day, and above that he didn’t want to talk to whatever yellow’s name was.

               The poking was persistant, but Dipper’s will power was just as persistant.

               Or so he thought. He eventually couldn’t take it anymore. He spun around and angrily whispered “What do you want?”

               The kid smirked. “Don’t be like that Pine tree, I’m just trying to make conversation.”

               “Well I don’t want your conversation. And, why are you calling me Pine Tree, stop that.”

               “I thought it fit you well. It goes with that whole forest theme you got going on.”

               Dipper looked at him in confusion. “Forest theme?”

               The yellow boy flicked Dipper’s hat. “That thing there, with the tree on it. Also your last name. and the fact that there are thousands of tree scetches in the book of yours.”

               “What?” Dipper replied. “How did you even know that? How do you know my name?”

               His smile grew larger than humanly possible. “Oh, I know lots of things.”

               A shiver went down Dipper’s spine. This boy was dangerous. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact source of that thought, maybe it was based off a hunch or maybe the thing he just said. All he knew for sure was that he wanted to avoid talking to this kid as much as possible.

               With his luck though, they happened to have the exact same schedule.                              

              


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill smiled his inhuman smile. “Wanna make a deal?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm in formatting hell

Throughout the day, Dipper had many more run-ins with the boy in yellow. At one point, he learned the boy’s name was Bill. The name didn’t seem to fit him. It sounded like an old man’s name, not the name of a creepy, attractive, probably dangerous boy obsessed with the color yellow.

Dipper also learned something else about Bill. That he liked to stare. Dipper would catch him staring at him multiple times throughout the morning. Each time the two made eye contact Bill would smirk, leaving Dipper feeling confused, angry, and embarrassed.

Soon though, it was time for lunch. Dipper made his way to the front doors of the cafeteria, the location he and Mabel had decided they were going to meet at. She was already standing there, clearly visible from down the hall because of her light up rainbow sweater. She was standing with two girls he didn’t recognize. Probably her new friends. It was no surprise that she had already met people. Mabel was friendly and generally got along well with everyone, unlike Dipper who usually wasn’t as social. He was a little upset he hadn’t met anyone so far today. Well, he did meet _someone,_ but no one friend worthy.

When he had closed more distance between him and his sister, he gave her a little wave. She returned the wave by jumping up into the air and shouting “Hey bro bro!”

He patted her on the head. “Hey Mabel,” he said. He then turned to the two other girls. “Who are they?”

“Oo! These are my new friends, Grenda and Candy!”

The two girls waved and said hello. Dipper nodded and returned the greeting.

“So then, shall we get lunch?” Dipper asked, turning to Mabel.

She gestured to the door with her arms. “After you, my dear sir,” she giggled.

Dipper went through the door and led the way through the lunch line, and eventually to a table in the back corner of the cafeteria. The four of them sat down with their meals- a combination of chicken strips, mashed potatoes, and some kind of sauce- and started to eat while chatting about school.

“So, Dipper,” inquired Mable. “Meet anyone interesting today? Made a new best friend?” she wiggled her eyebrows. “A girlfriend?”

“Ew, no,” replied Dipper. “Though I did meet this one guy today. He really gave me the creeps…”

“Be nice Dipper, I bet he wasn’t that bad.”

“No, he was! He kept calling me Pine Tree and-“

Mabel snorted. “Ha, Pine Tree...”

“Its not funny Mabel, its serious!”

“I’m sorry Dipper, I just don’t see a problem here. All he did was give you a cute nickname! Stop being so paranoid, not everyone is evil.”

“I know that!” he rolled his eyes. “But you should have seen him. Something was definitely weird about him.”

“Mhm.” Mable said. “Or maaaybe you’re blowing this out of proportion! Listen, bro, you can’t keep shutting everyone out. If you accuse every person you meet of being evil you’re never going to make any friends!”

“I don’t need any friends,” he replied, stone faced.

“Of course you do silly!” she said, pushing his shoulder. “Now, point out this person for me. We should invite him over to eat lunch with us so you two can bond over mashed potatoes and processed chicken.”

“Mabel, no.”

“Pleaseee,” she whined. “It’s just one lunch! Besides, I want to meet him! I like his choices in nicknames.”

Suddenly there was a voice coming from behind Dipper. “What about nicknames?”

Dipper spun around in his seat to see no one other than Bill himself.

Bill walked over to where Candy was sitting.

 “Move it sweat cheeks,” he said as he pulled the chair out from under her. She tried to argue, but it got her nowhere.

Bill moved the chair over next to Dipper and sat on it backward, resting his arms and chin on top of the back. He was looking right up at dipper, a smirk on his face.

Dipper groaned.

Mable cleared her throat. “Hello unexpectedly attractive guest! I’m Mabel, fifteen, single.”

Bill laughed. “Oh man, you’re a hoot! Listening to obviously desperate people sure is fun!”

Mable’s smile dropped. Dipper glared.

“And who are you?” Mabel asked.

“The name’s Bill,” he said, sitting up from his lounged position. He put his pointy elbow onto Dipper’s shoulder. “I’m a friend of this kid. Right, Pine Tree?”

“No.” said Dipper flatly.

Bill laughed louder then he should have. “Oh man, kid! Of course we’re friends.”

“No, no we’re not!”

Another laugh. “Well in that case I’ll just have to get rid of everyone else you know until im you’re friend by default!”

Dipper looked directly into Bills eyes. “Don’t you even think about it.”

They stayed there, eyes locked for a half minute until Bill finally said, “Is this guy always this serious? Come on, lighten up! It was a joke!”

Dipper suddenly stood up. “I have to get to class,” he grumbled.

“Without me?” Bill asked, smiling wide, eyes big.

“Yes. Without you. Far away from you.”

“…Dipper,” Mabel said hesitantly.

“Mabel, I’ll see you after school.” He spewed out the words as he quickly left the cafeteria. He didn’t need to look behind him to know that Bill was watching him, eyes as wide as his smile.

What was this guy’s problem, Dipper thought to himself as he marched down the hall. Couldn’t he take a hint that Dipper didn’t want anything to do with him? On top of that, Mabel wasn’t helping the situation. Knowing her, she will probably try to befriend the guy, feeling bad that Dipper wasn’t being as open to this new and unwanted friendship.

He went straight to his next class, finding his seat easily. Since he ran out of the cafeteria early, he had about ten minutes until class started. To take his mind off things, he decided to work on his journal. His journal had been given to him by his grunkle Stan a few years ago. Since then he had been using it to document all the strange things he saw, which was a lot. His most recent discovery, besides the peculiar tree from across the street, was a colony of what could only be described as very tiny rabbits. He is currently debating if a shrink gun could have been involved.

He easily got caught up in his work. This is what he loved to do, write and draw about the weird and unexplained. He hoped one day to publish his journal so he could share all of what he had learned with the world. But for now, he remained an unpublished teenager. So he was trying his best to ocus on his writing. He focused so much in fact, that he didn’t notice who was sitting in the desk next to him, watching him with wide eyes and a smirk.

Soon enough though, Dipper heard a whisper of “Hey Pine Tree,”

Dipper closed his book with a slam. “What do you want Bill?” he said, making a face of dislike.

Bill leaned in close to Dipper, so close that Dipper could smell Bill’s sweater, a mixture of dusty attic and lavender laundry soap. Dipper tried to move back, but every time he did Bill advancements kept coming. In the end, Bill was leaning inches from Dipper’s face. Their eyes met.

Bill smiled his inhuman smile. “Wanna make a deal?”

Dipper released his breath, something he didn’t know he was even holding. He didn’t want to feel intrigued, but he was. It was that stupid adventure instinct of his. “What kind of deal?” he said slowly.

“That’s the spirit!” cheered Bill, moving back from Dipper to an appropriate distance. “It’s nothing too complicated. I know you want something from me. And I also want something from you. It’s a deal beneficial to both of us.”

Bill wanted something from him? And more importantly, what could he possibly think that he could do for Dipper?

Dipper expressed his thoughts to Bill. “What could I possibly want from you?”

Bill rocked his chair onto its back legs. This caused him to block the isle between desks, forcing the incoming students to walk around the other way.

“Well for starters,” He said. “You want me to leave you alone. I can do that. If you accept my extremely easy deal, I will never approach you again.”

“What’s the catch?” Dipper asked. He didn’t trust this guy, or his deal.

“Like I said, I do something for you, you do something for me.” Bill put his arms behind his head, taking up even more room now.

“Like what?”

“I need you to stand someplace for me.”

Dipper shook his head in confusion. “Like, literally just stand in one spot?”

“Yep.”

“When, where, and how long?” He didn’t want to accidently agree to stand under something that would get him killed, or agree to standing in one spot forever. He wanted all the details, because once he made the deal he didn’t think he would be able to back out. Bill didn’t seem like the type of person who would let someone off the hook.

“I don’t know when yet. Can’t tell you where. For no longer than an hour.”

“And this isn’t a plan to kill me?”

He laughed. “The goal of this isn’t to kill you, kid. If you happen to die by standing in one spot, you probably brought it on to yourself.”

“Well then…” Dipper said, unsure.

“What do you have to lose, Pine Tree?”

What did he have to lose? His life, his time, maybe a limb. No, he knew that Bill wasn’t lying. He wasn’t going to try to kill him. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t other terrible things that could happen, that he could be planning.

“Tick tock, tick tock, deal or no deal,” Bill waggled one figure back and forth while sticking out his other hand, waiting to close the deal with Dipper.

But really, what did Dipper have to lose?

His thirst for adventure was stronger than his fear. He grabbed Bill’s hand and shook it.

“Deal,” Dipper said.

Bill’s smile widened, larger than Dipper had ever seen it before. “Good choice Pine Tree. Then, once you do what I need you to do, I’ll never approach you again.”

Something about how he said that didn’t sit well with Dipper. What did he just get himself into?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi y'all! Sorry about how ridiculously long it took to get this chapter out. It's pretty short, and I have no good excuse as for why except for lack of motivation. The next chapter I promise will be very long and have more main plot related events! I've had Ideas for this coming up chapter for forever now and am really excited to get into writing it!
> 
> Thanks again for reading, and as always feedback is extremely appreciated!   
> (still trying to figure out how you format text on here correctly. If its wrong let me know)

The final bell of the day rang at 3:25. Dipper walked out of his class, avoiding Bill’s watching eyes from the other side of the room. He headed to his locker, grabbed what he needed for his homework, and then exited the school. He walked over across the street to the tree he and Mabel agreed to wait at.

It took fifteen minutes before she arrived, bejeweled backpack over her shoulder. 

“Sorry it took so long!” she panted. It looked like she just ran across the school. “I had to get Grenda and Candy’s phone numbers, and then there was this cute guy from the swim team I had to talk to and-"

“Mabel, its fine.” Dipper said. “Can we just get going now?”

Mabel squinted her eyes at him. “Somethings wrong with you.”

“What?” snapped Dipper, defensively. “Nothing’s wrong. Let’s just go.”

“Lier,” stated Mabel.

Dipper rolled his eyes, and started walking down the sidewalk towards their grunkle Stan’s house. Mabel pranced, quickly catching up to her twin.

“Dipper,” she said sweetly. “Bro Bro, what’s wrong. Is it that Bill guy?”

“Yes. Yes, it is that Bill guy.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“There’s nothing to talk about besides the fact that he’s insane and is probably going to try to murder me!”

Mabel snorted. “Murder you? Dipper, listen. He might be a little creepy, but you need to start putting your trust in people!”

“Well sorry for not blindly trusting everyone like you do!”

Mabel looked away from Dipper. “Well sorry.”

“No- you know what I mean!” Dipper tried to apologize. “There’s nothing wrong with being trusting.”

Mabel sighed. 

They walked in silence the rest of the way to the shack. Mabel kicked rocks along the way, as the winded down the dirt path of their forest shortcut. The trees loomed overhead, casting threatening shadows. This atmosphere did not help Dipper calm down. It drew worst-case scenarios into his mind, of what he has gotten himself into when he made that deal with Bill. 

He pushed the thoughts aside as they walked up the rickety steps, through the back door, and into the shack.

“Grunkle Stan!” yelled out Mabel. “We’re home!”

Mabel dumped her stuff onto the floor next to the door. Mabel pulled off her shoes too, but Dipper kept his on along with his backpack. He liked to be prepared to leave at any moment. 

Grunkle Stan called out from the armchair in the living room. “Hey kids. Dipper, come hand me the remote.”

Dipper groaned dramatically. “Hi Stan, school was good, no I didn’t make friends, yes I did get harassed.”

Stan waved at him dismissively. “Yeah yeah, couldn’t have been that bad. Now come bring me that remote.”

From the background Mabel yelled “I’m going to go work on my sweater!” as she ran upstairs. 

Dipper plodded over to the remote and handed it to his grunkle. “Anything else?”

“Yeah,” Stan said. “Maybe try smiling, you’re sad face is really bringing down the atmosphere.” 

“…yeah.”

Dipper walked headed upstairs, his mind wandering back to the deal he made with Bill. Why did he even need Dipper? What could Dipper possible do to help Bill by just standing there? What would-

A hand waved in front of Dipper’s face. 

“Hellooo?” it was Mabel. “Earth to Little Dip.”

Dipper had made it upstairs, and was now standing in the middle of his and Mabel’s room. He felt something under his foot and realized that he was standing on top of Mabel’s pink glue gun.

Mabel made a look on concern. “You’re so out of it that you walked over my craft space.”

He moved his foot. “Oh, sorry.”

Dipper walked over to his bed and flopped over to his back. He pulled his journal out of his backpack and flipped through the paged until he found a blank one. He grabbed a pencil from his bedside table and rolled over to his stomach. He mindlessly doodled until he heard Grunkle Stan yell that dinner was ready from downstairs. 

Dipper glanced at what he had been drawing in his journal. The previously blank page was now full of ominous one eyed triangle drawings. He slammed the journal shut, scared of his own doodles, and put it on his pillow.

Mabel and Stan where already seated when Dipper walked into the dining room. Mabel was trying to convince Stan to give her money to go buy supplies for her current sweater project.

“In the long run it will save you money!” Mabel persuaded. 

“Absolutely not,” Replied Stan, crossing his arms.

Dipper sat down in the seat between the two. His plate was already in front of him with a tamale on it, curtesy of their old friend Soos, and his grandmother. The nights they had food cooked by her were always Dipper’s favorites. Dipper and his sister had known Soos most of their childhood. He used to spend a lot of time together during the summer’s they were staying at the shop. He used to work at the shop as a repair guy when he was a teenager. Now though, he was graduated and living with his girlfriend a city over. He still always came into town to check on his grandmother and say hello to Stan.

Mabel paused her persuading when Dipper sat down at the table. She squinted her eyes at him. 

“What?” Dipper asked.

She shook her head. “Nothing.” She then turned to Stan. “Did you see the last episode of ducktective?”

“Did I!” Stan shouted with excitement. “That twist at the end, when Dr.frank-”

“Was also the mysterious hooded man!” finished Mabel.

They both spent the rest of dinner enthusing over the latest episode of their favorite show while dipper quietly ate him Tamale.

Dinner quickly ended. Mabel announced that she was going to go the craft store and that anyone who wanted to come was invited. Dipper took that to mean that she had forgiven him for any bad feelings he had caused. 

She was already out the door when Dipper was slipping on his shoes. He had to chase after her to catch up. 

“So Mabel,” he started. “Whats on the list to get tonight?”

Mabel unfolded a list from her pink-bejeweled fanny pack. She dramatically cleared her throat and read, “Replacement glue for my hot glue gun, lime green jewels, some more light pink yarn, and staples.”  
“Where did you get the money for this?”

Mabel pulled out Stan’s wallet. “I have my ways.”

The twins spent the rest of the evening shopping at a small craft store. Mabel excitedly ran through the isles, with Dipper following her making sure she didn’t get into trouble. When they finally got home, it was already dark outside. Stan had fallen asleep in his chair, his glasses strewn to the side. They tiptoed past him and up the stairs to their room. 

Dipper went straight to his bed and tried to sleep, while Mabel shuffled through and organized her new craft supplies. 

“Don’t say up too late,” Dipper said to her as he slipped into a dream.

“Don’t worry, only a few more minute then I’ll go to sleep.”

Eventually Mabel switched off the bedroom light and also crawled into bed, her mind buzzing with sweater plans.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's too late to back out now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OVER ONE YEAR LATER HERE I AM WITH AN UPDATE.  
> rereading what I wrote, I noticed so many typos I am crying.  
> anyways, thanks for all of these reads and kudos?? I'm sorry for this giant giant gap in updates, I really have no excuse besides I completely forgot this existed.

“Bill Cipher?”

“Here!”

Dipper rolled his eyes. It had been a few days since the day Dipper and Bill made the deal. Bill had been his regular nuisance over those days. He would constantly try to embarrass Dipper throughout their classes together, and always made a point to never call him by anything besides Pine Tree. 

As the days went on, Dipper’s anxiety about the deal he made with Bill grew. Of course, Dipper had tried to ask Bill what exactly he was supposed to accomplish by standing in one spot. But of course, Bill   
wouldn’t give him any information. He would just smile his quarter moon smile and say “all in due time Pine Tree. Patience is the key!”

Dipper was getting tired of his games fast. He had only knew the kid for six days and he was already pushing him over the edge.

The English teacher lectured for most of the class about how to correctly write supporting sentences. She finished the lecture early, leaving the class with ten minutes of free time to do what they pleased as long as they stayed in the room.

Dipper right away pulled out his journal. He was expecting Bill to start pestering him, but he didn’t. in fact, when he glanced to the seat behind him, Bill wasn’t sitting in it. Dipper casually looked around the room and saw Bill talking to a girl in the corner. His long, skinny body was in contrast with hers. She was a bit pudgy and definitely on the short side. Her smooth blonde hair was pulled back into a   
loose ponytail. She wore a tight floral dress with a loose knit cardigan over it. Bill looked as sly as always, and she was standing with her arms crossed defensively. 

Dipper tried to make out what they were saying, but couldn’t. By their body language he could tell though that the girl didn’t want to be having this conversation. In fact, one could even say she looked scared. She tried to hide the fear behind confidence, but it wasn’t working.

Bill glanced over in Dippers direction, and the girls gaze followed his. Dipper quickly looked down at his desk but suspected he was too slow to prevent Bill from noticing him staring. 

A few minutes later Bill returned to his seat. 

“Were you talking about me?” Dipper asked him right away. 

“Did you want me to be talking about you?”

“I’m serious.”

“I’m serious, too.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Bill snickered. “Pine Tree, you should learn not to ask questions you don’t want to know the answer to.”

The bell rang.

Bill got up. He turned to start to leave, but then stopped. 

“Oh yeah, I hope you’re not busy tonight. It’s time for you to do your part of the deal. Meet me in front of the school at nine thirty.”

Bill left the room and disappeared into the hall. 

Dipper sighed. He exited the room, half expecting to see Bill’s yellow back waiting for him. But Bill wasn’t there. In fact, Bill didn’t show up to their next class. He guessed that was okay though, the less time spent with him the better.

Lunch was next. He had been sitting with Mabel and her friends at the same table since the first day of school. He always went straight there after class ended. Halfway through lunch Bill would usually show up, steal one of their seats, and harass Dipper for a few minutes before going off to do something else. The rest of the group was oblivious to the harassment. They found Bill funny. Especially Mabel, who didn’t understand why Dipper hated Bill so much. “Yeah,” she said one day. “He’s a jerk, but that’s just how he is! He doesn’t mean anything by it, Dip! Lighten up!”

Though today was different. Before he made it to the cafeteria, he was intercepted by the blonde girl in the dress. 

“Hey, you’re Bill’s new friend,” she said, pulling him to the side.

“I wouldn’t really call us friends, but,” He paused. “Wait, who are you?”

“Oh, I’m Pacifica. Pacifica Northwest. I live up in that giant manor, you know the one. But uh,” she looked uncomfortable. “Sorry, I’m not used to talking to people out of my social class.”

Dipper could feel himself getting annoyed. “Do you need something?”

“Look,” she said, her tone quickly changing from preppy to serious. “I’ve just come here to tell you not to get on his bad side.”

“Bill’s?”

She nodded. “Just- just trust me. Do what he wants, then cut him out of your life as soon as possible. Now, I have to go. And don’t tell him I talked to you. Even though he probably already knows.”  
She glanced around, and then ran off back to a group of similar looking girls. He heard them all let out a high pitched laugh in unison and then walk away. 

What was that about? She looked scared, just like how she looked back in the classroom. What happened between her and Bill?

He thought about all this as he headed into the cafeteria. 

Everyone was already seated at the table, chatting away. They didn’t even seem to notice that Dipper arrived late. They seemed to be too sucked into their conversation to care.

“Candy corn can only be eaten in the correct season!” Grenda argued. “It ruins the meaning of the food.”

“But why limit your candy eating experience!” Mabel interjected. 

“Hey,” Dipper cut in. “Do you guys know anything about Pacifica Northwest?”

Candy and Grenda gasped dramatically. 

“Why do you want to know about her,” said Grenda.

“No reason,” said Dipper. “Okay, maybe one reason. She came up and started warning me about Bill out of nowhere. I wanted to know what that was about.”

“Why don’t you just ask me?”

Dipper spun around. There was Bill, standing there with a devious smile. He slandered over to Dipper’s chair and attempted to sit in it with him. That only caused Dipper to be pushed off the point that he   
had to stand up. 

“Because, uh –“

“Because she didn’t want me to know what you were talking about?” He sighed. “That girl, always trying to cause trouble for me.”

Mabel and her friends got up awkwardly. 

“I’ll leave you two be,” said Mabel. “See you after school Dipper.”

Dipper and Bill were now left alone at the table. 

“Go ahead Pine Tree, ask away!” he sounded open, but his eyes looked threatening. 

Dipper apprehensively asked, “Why is Pacifica so afraid of you?”

“Are you afraid of me?” Bill asked back.

“Not relevant!”

He laughed loudly. “Whatever you say, kid!”

Dipper scoffed. “Just answer my question.”

Bill raised a hand to his chin. “Pacifica thinks she runs the world. All I’ve done is shown her how wrong she is. Lets say, I opened her eyes to the truth.” He gestured dramatically with his other hand as he said the last part. 

“Like you’re going to do with me? Is that what our deals about?”

Bill smiled a Cheshire cat grin. “Only if you do what she did.”

“What did she do?”

Bills eyes got dark. “She broke a deal. You wouldn’t do that, would you Pine Tree?”

Dipper took a step away from him. “No…” he said carefully. “I don’t think so.”

With that, Dipper gathered his things and walked as steadily as he could out of the cafeteria. 

The rest of his classes seemed to drag on forever. It was probably just his nerves about what was going to happen tonight getting to him, but he couldn’t seem to be able to focus on any of his work. Eventually though, class ended for the day. He walked out of his last class, arms over flowing with books. He was too tired between classes to actually put any in his locker, so he carried them all. He got what he needed for homework, and left the rest of the books at school. Soon he was back on the turning path towards the shack. He listened and responded to what Mabel was talking about, but his mind was elsewhere. 

He got home and floated through the rest of the evening. They all had pizza for diner, Mabel worked on her sweater project, and Stan watched old movies. Dipper tried to do homework but quickly found he wasn’t going to get much done. Before he knew it, it was already time for him to leave to make it back to school in time to meet Bill. 

Stan didn’t even notice, or maybe he didn’t care, as he walked out of the shack.

 

The schools facade as dimly lit, besides from a few scattered lamp posts. Dipper didn’t know where he was supposed to meet Bill, so he settled on sitting on the schools front steps. The temperature had dropped a lot since the daytime. The sunny 71 degrees had turned into a bitter wind of 46 degrees. Dipper tucked his hands into his armpits, fighting off a chill. He suddenly wished he had worn more than a T-shirt and a bubble vest. 

There was a tap on his shoulder. He turned around saw Bill, lamplight casting an orange tinted beam across his face, as he stared down at Dipper with his Cheshire cat grin. His eyes reflected in the light from under his sharp yellow bangs. 

“You ready, Pine Tree?” 

Dipper scoffed. 

“Don’t call me that,” he said, standing up.

Bill stood there, watching him.

Dipper blinked. “Are we going in or..?”

Bill gestured to the schools main door, and bowed slightly. “After you.”

Dipper walked to the big glass doors at the front of the school. Bill followed closely behind him. 

“Aren’t the doors going to be locked?” Dipper asked, peering through the glass. 

Bill shrugged.

Dipper sighed. He pulled at one of the doors, and found that it slid open easily. 

Dipper looked to Bill. “Did you pick the lock?”

Bill walked through the door that Dipper was still holding open. “You ask a lot of questions that you really don’t want to know the answer to, kid,” he chuckled. “And anyways, I thought the whole point of this deal was so that you didn’t have to be involved with me, eh? Wasn’t that the point?”

“I don’t think I know anymore,” Dipper mumbled, following Bill into the school.

Bill silently took the lead, his hands casually draped in his back pants pockets like he had done this a million times. He lead the way through the maze of dark hallways. Even though Dipper had now been going to this school for about a week, everything looked completely foreign in the dark. He had no idea where they were, until Bill suddenly stopped in front of a door.

“Here we are!”

Dipper looked at the door. On it in peeling paint it read “records”. He processed why they were here.

“Oh no,” he said. “We are not breaking into the records room.”

Bill laughed. “Don’t get so flustered kid. You just have to stand in one spot, remember? You don’t have to break any rules. You just have to be my lookout.”

“Uh-uh. No way.”

Bill’s smile dropped. “You aren’t going to break our deal, are you? I thought you were better than that, Pine Tree.”

“N-no,” he stuttered. “I just- this is crazy.”

Bill’s look intensified. 

“I mean,” Dipper sputtered.

“Don’t be stupid, kid.” Bill warned. “Make the right choice.”

His mind flashed back to pacific, and how terrified she looked. And about what Bill said, about her breaking a deal.

“I’ll be your lookout,” he finally said.

“Great!” Bill exclaimed. “If there’s any trouble just rap on the door. I’ll be back out in a few.”

Bill than pulled a small key out of his pocket, and put it in the door. Turning it, he pushed open the door and walked in, getting engulfed in the darkness of the room.

“I’ll just be here,” Dipper mumbled to himself. It was too late to back out, anyways.


End file.
